


Citadel: Combat Racing

by Amariahellcat



Series: Evans Twins [4]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Racing, Alternate Universe - Video Game World, Canon-Typical Violence, Cerberus being Cerberus, Eventual Romance, F/M, Hiatus, Interspecies Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 23:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17313518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amariahellcat/pseuds/Amariahellcat
Summary: The Expansion was supposed to make things more exciting - add new tracks, new characters, new unlockables. Instead, it made changes but gave no answers, and left Rose with a Glitch... a Glitch that's getting worse every day.Off limits or not, the new game in the Hub seems to have the answers they need - so Lily's determined to sneak into Reaper Wars no matter how dangerous it is, if it means saving her twin.An AU initially inspired by Wreck it Ralph that has ballooned well past it's original idea. Happy 2019?ON HIATUS





	Citadel: Combat Racing

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys - we're starting 2019 off with that AU I've been hinting at for some time. Tada! I know it's not canon R&R, and I'm sorry that's taking so long to get back to - but gotta run with the ideas that are working, right?
> 
> This was 100% inspired by Wreck it Ralph, initially, and has ballooned into a much bigger idea/project then originally intended (gee, Cass, y'mean like ALL of your projects? Sigh).
> 
> Anyways. Happy 2019 - enjoy! ♥

“Okay, I’m going - wish me luck, I’ll be back soon.”

“Shouldn’t you wait, Lily? There’s still races going on-”

They fall silent as a car skids by on the track above them, tires squealing around the tight corner - followed by another three, four vehicles, some taking the turn with considerably less  _finesse_ , rolling off into the stands before igniting with the games over-amped explosion audio playing in the background.

“Arcade closes in ten minutes - the same pair of kids’ve been on the controls for the last half hour. No one's gonna initiate a solo race before closing time - and this is the  _best_  time to game hop, while Arcade Central is  _empty._ ” Lily reaches out, poking her twins nose with a grin, “I’ll be fine - and I’ll be quick. In and out. Promise.”

Rose swats at her with a scowl, crossing her arms as she steps backwards into the shadows. “Alright. Just… be careful. That game’s supposed to be  _dangerous_.”

“And off-limits, but when has that stopped me?” Lily winks, pulling her goggles down as she watches her twin fade into the darkness, “Hang tight.”

She’s off before Rose can say anything else - only the quiet flicker of the other woman’s glitch sounding behind her as she moves, winding her way through back alleys and inactive shops as she goes.

The Exit to Arcade Central is clear, and she dashes out before anyone can notice her, speed-walking along the tunnel that connects  _Citadel: Combat Racing_  to the central game hub.

_Step one, complete. Onto step two…_

 

* * *

 As expected, Arcade Central is empty - in eight minutes or so, it’ll be bustling with characters from every game, some headed over to  _Azure_  to enjoy the bar and dancing, most just spending their off-time mingling in the shared space of the Hub.

Lily’s been in every other game in the last month, trying to find something to fix Rose’s glitch - every game except one.

 _Reaper Wars_ , the newest addition to the hub - a space themed, co-op first person shooter, which had been installed at roughly the same time as her own games expansion - is technically  _off limits_.

Someone from another game had wandered in during the first week and been killed, dubbing the game ‘too dangerous’ for any characters not belonging to it.

Supposedly. Lily didn’t believe the story, but she’d never had a reason to sneak in - until now.

 _Just gotta get past the Surge Protector._  Lily eyes the area from where she’s crouched, half hidden behind one of the fern-like plants installed in the Hub,  _Okay, coast is clear - go, go, go!_

She sprints as quickly as she can across the plaza, making a beeline for the entrance directly across from her own game - marked  _REAPER WARS_  by an ominous, scrolling set of text above the opening - doing a mental check of the weapons she has on her -  _no way I’m going into a dangerous game unarmed-_

“Miss Evans, you are aware that that game is off limits.”

Lily comes skidding to a stop with a string of curses as the physical form of the Surge Protector materializes in front of her, as calm and pristine as she ever is. Honestly, Lily wishes she could at least  _pretend_  to be frazzled, once in a while.

“EDI!” she greets, smiling brilliantly and throwing her arms wide in greeting, “I didn’t see you there! Gotta stop sneaking up on people like that, you know.”

The AI only blinks, still smiling pleasantly.

Lily sighs. “Okay, look, I’m sorry. I know it’s off limits. But I was given a tip that something in there  _might help Rose_ , and I’m out of options. I won’t cause any trouble.”

“You are aware that this game is dangerous, correct?”

“I’m armed, EDI - I wasn’t going in blind.”

“I am still unable to let you pass-”

“EDI.” Lily tries, knowing the Arcade’s going to close any second, “Rose is getting worse.”

That makes the AI pause, the tiniest hint of uncertainty flashing over her expression. “How so?”

“She can barely leave the Garage - the smallest things make her glitch. And she’s started having  _fits_ … I don’t know how much longer her code is going to hold together, if I can’t find something to  _fix_  it.”

EDI’s silent for a moment, watching her. Then, after an almost mechanical look around, she steps aside. “Tell Jeff he owes me a date in  _Azure_. And be careful.”

Lily can’t help it - she grins widely and  _almost_  hugs the AI, reigning herself in at the last moment. “I will! To both! Seriously.  _Thank you_.”

“Go, quickly.”

It’s all the incentive she needs to take off running, following the dark tunnel down into the world of  _Reaper Wars_.

 

* * *

 “Yah al’righ there, Tibs?” Rainer turns to his partner as soon as the  _GAME OVER_  sound effect goes off, whatever scattered Reaper forces remained vaporized by the systems beams, “Tha’kid clearly did’nae know how’ta  _block_.”

“I’m alright - wonders of being a game character.” Tiberius shoots him a grin, flexing his biotics briefly - that moment between end-game and full-heal - before stepping into line beside him, “Busy day - I think we outscored Victus and Tarquin, even.”

“Luck’ah th’draw.” Rainer mumbles, giving his rifle a once-over before holstering it, leading the way back to their encampment, “Jus’glad ta’be done fer th’day. Ah can on’ly handle so many missed headshots ‘cause ah player want’s tah correct mah aim.”

“Kinda the point, isn’t it?” Tiberius hums, ignoring his glare, “Supposed to be the  _players_  calling the shots, here…”

“Yeah, yeah, shadup…”

Rainer pushes past his snickering teammate into the bunker, grumbling under his breath. He’s made it maybe four steps in when something  _missing_  catches his attention, gaze zeroing in on the empty wall-socket near the far door.

“Where th’ _fuck_  is tha’stabilizer-?”

“ _Intruder_!”

Rainer whirls around at the sound of Tiberius’s biotics going off, sniper rifle trained on the figure that had  _just_  dodged his partners stasis field - a  _human_  on a hoverboard, making a beeline for the exit with the glowing stabilizer cradled in her arms.

“Oh, fer fucks  _sakes_ , not again!” he fires off a warning shot, close enough to make the woman veer in surprise, before charging back out the doors and down the path after her.

“ _Don’t shoot her!_  If she dies here, she’ll  _actually_ -”

“ _Ah know that! Ah_  was tryin’ta startle’er off’ah her fuckin’ toy!” Rainer’s growling as he stalks up the path, punching in a code on his omni and speaking quickly, “Boss, we gotta situation; more tech’s been taken. Persuin’ with Tiberius.”

_“Reaper tech again?”_

“Thankfully, no, our own tech - jus’ a stabilizer.”

There’s a confused pause, then  _“Alright, keep me updated. Good hunting.”_

“Will do. Rainer out.”

“It’s just a stabilizer.” Tiberius gives him a look as they approach the exit, mandibles pulled in, “Do we really need to track her?”

“She stole somethin’ from another game, Tibs; we gotta pursue.”

“But still… a  _stabilizer_. She must  _need_  it.”

“Yah can ask’er when we find’er.” Rainer growls, striding forwards into the tunnel - hearing his partner sigh and follow after a moment, easily catching up to him.

“Fine.” the taller Turian says, “But let’s try and be  _civil_ , alright?”

“No promises.” the sniper grumps.

 

* * *

 They make it out into the Hub just in time to see the thief disappearing through the gate marked  _CITADEL: COMBAT RACING_ , carefully crossing the now crowded meeting area towards it.

Characters from other games back off and give them space, thankfully - the rumors coming out of their first week of operation have made them seem a bit  _dangerous_ , he knows, even though the rumor itself is a load of Reaper shit.

The Krogan aren’t afraid of them, for obvious reasons, but they thankfully don’t pass any of them - and even the ever watchful AI that serves as the Hubs Surge Protector is nowhere in sight.

“Guard up.” Rainer mutters as they trek through the tunnel, exiting slowly into completely unfamiliar territory. “Huh… s’alot  _brighter_ ’ere.”

“Wow.” there’s a note of awe in Tiberius’s voice that Rainer will never admit to sharing, the taller Turian sweeping his gaze over the landscape, “Too bad we can’t explore. This is…  _different_.”

“Focus.” Rainer pops his tracker on, locking onto the code-trail of the stabilizer, “C’mon. She went this way.”

They don’t bump into anyone as they follow the  _ping_  of the tracker, walking along what seems like back alleys and then down through an inactive race track -  _‘She knows’er way around th’back routes, it seems.’_  - before emerging in front of what is  _obviously_  a Race Garage.

An active one, too - it’s not marked off or showing inactive, and it’s well maintained, a proper piece of the game. The only thing that seems off is the name marker over the main doors - the name  _Evans_  lit up as it should be, but the word following it so blacked out they can’t read it.

“Go’round th’back.” Rainer pulls out his rifle, feeling better with the weapon in his hands, “ Ah’m goin’ in th’front.”

Tiberius nods and disappears around the building, near invisible thanks to his biotics, and Rainer carefully opens the door inlaid in the brick and ducks through, watching and listening.

The interior of the Garage is well-lit, clearly inhabited and taken care of, and he can hear mumbling as he steps further in, coming into the main area of the space.

“Relax… just,  _relax_.” he can make out as he rounds a workbench, spotting a woman bent over another workspace not ten feet away, “Keep it together, Rose… you’re fine, you’ll be  _fine_ …”

Rainer tries to slip around the bench unnoticed, freezing when his foot connects with something metallic and sends it skittering across the garage floor - making the woman come straight to attention, a pistol in her hand the second she’s noticed him.

“Who the  _hell_  are  _you_?!” she demands, grip on the gun tight, but he’s distracted by a strange flicker of blue light running all over her form - a glitch, or something, that makes her wince.

And even though he hadn’t gotten a good look at the other woman, he knows this isn’t her. “Yer not th’theif.” he says in response, making her eyes narrow and that blue flash through her again.

“What did you do to her?”

“Ain’t done nothin’ b’sides tracked’er back’ere.” Rainer keeps his eyes steady on the woman but doesn’t move any closer, not liking the blue glitching that seems to plague her.

She looks confused, scowling. “She’s not here - I haven’t seen her since she left-”

“She’s telling the truth.” Tiberius says from behind her as he comes out of stealth, making the woman whip around-

Where Rainer thought she might have started firing, though, instead she starts  _glitching_ , staggering as the blue flickering becomes almost steady, nearly seizure-like as she hits the ground hard.

“What the  _hell_  is happening?!”

“Ah donno, but she’s in  _pain_.” Rainer’s seen glitching before, but never like  _this_  - he can’t just leave her on the ground, especially when somehow, this feels like their fault “Shit, Tib’s, help meh get’er on th’bench-”

“ _DON’T FUCKING TOUCH HER!”_

Rainer has to dodge backwards to avoid being run over by a hover board as the thief appears from another door, dropping to her knees beside the seizuring figure and clutching at the stabilizer, “Fuck, Rose, calm down - c’mon, Rosie, I got the thing, just - just  _hold on_ , I just gotta-  _fuck_  - I’m not the techie here, Rosie, you gotta work with me,  _please_ -”

“ _Rainer_.” Tiberius hums at him, mandibles flared purposely - and Rainer growls, dropping down on the opposite side of the figure to catch the flustered woman’s attention.

“Explanation,  _after_.” he growls, hand extended, “What d’ya need?”

She stares at him for a moment before a gasp from the glitching figure draws her back, shoving the stabilizer into his hand as she motions Tiberius over on her side.

“I will, I swear, okay - I don’t know how to work that thing. I need it to be  _active_. I need to sync it with the program a friend gave me, so I can sync it with  _her_ -”

“Got it.” Rainer’s working at the sequence on the sphere as she talks, glad for his auto memory of the thing - holding it out once it lights up and starts humming. “Done.”

“Okay - you, Big Guy, I need you to keep an eye on the stats on  _this_  screen - tell me when it hits 100%.” she loads an omni - which tells Rainer their two games are closer to each other then they’d originally thought - and pulls up a screen, placing it in front of Tiberius, “I’ll get this syncing. You, uh… just…  _hold that_  over her, but  _don’t touch her_.”

Rainer grunts but does as told, Tiberius watching his screen as the woman types away at whatever the program is, the only sound the poor thing glitching around on the floor.

The thief stops typing at nearly the same time as Tiberius says “It’s at 100%!”, prompting her to hit a button and point her omni at the stabilizer - which glows bright and hot in Rainer’s grip.

“Okay, 3, 2, 1 - let it go! Let it drop!”

Rainer does, watching as the familiar item hovers a moment before sinking into the glitching form and disappears - staring as the glitching begins to slow, and then  _stops_ , leaving the woman laying straight on her back, eyes closed and mouth open to pant for air - only a small blue patch remaining on her throat.

“Oh, thank the Gods.” the other woman sighs, slumping in obvious relief, “It worked… it fucking  _worked_.”

“Impressive program.” Tiberius hums beside her, curious, “Who wrote it?”

She grins at him, nudging the prone woman with her foot, “ _She_  did - she’s a tech whiz. I’m just the dumb racer.”

“Not… true.”

“Rosie!”

“Ugh, stop  _yelling_ , Lily.” ‘Rosie’ scrunches her nose and opens her eyes after a moment, blinking up at them all. “Did it… work?”

“It did - I think. You should run a diag.”

“On it.” she struggles into a sitting position and makes a motion with her hand, a screen popping up in front of her that she hits several buttons on - sitting back as several yellow bars start running over her.

“Impressive.” Rainer hears Tiberius say again, and he can’t help agreeing.

Once her program’s done it’s diagnostic, she squints at the screen and frowns, touching the patch of blue on her throat that he’d noticed before. “Mostly fixed - I’m  _stable_ , thanks to that - but not perfect. I’ve still got a glitch.”

“But you’re  _better_.” ‘Lily’ looks like she’s about to cry, reaching out to grab the other’s hand, “Thank the Gods…”

“Don’t start crying on me, Lily… we’ve got company.”

“Mind explainin’ what’s goin’ on?” Rainer asks, a tad gentler than he’d been before. Clearly,  _something_  is wrong here.

The glitch looks to him, amber eyes bright now that she’s fully aware, and says “I’m Rose, and this is Lily - we’re the Evans Twins, one of the set of racers for this game. Or... we’re supposed to be, anyways.”

“Better start at the beginning, Rosie.” Lily pipes up, and despite the differences, he can see the familial similarities between them now.

“I guess you’re right. The beginning, huh? Alright.” Rose sucks in a breath, scowling. “Things started getting weird, after the update…”

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments make my day! Let me know what you think! Feel free to hit me up on tumblr @cousinslavellan or twitter @Amariahellcat1 :D


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